Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman (SRSC 12)

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Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

chronological development of John Woolman’s life. The first two chapters of this book follow Woolman’s pursuit of integrity and his attention to God’s voice and his own voice as he learned to speak as a prophet through his young adult years, until he was thirty-six. Chapters 3–6 record Woolman’s life of itinerant mission—a life of ministry in meetings (Chapter 3), ministry to individuals (Chapter 4), and ministry to Native Americans (Chapter 5)—and then considers the reform of church and state (Chapter 6). A ministry with prophetic power identifies the active presence of God in the midst of group or individual meetings, discerning when the Holy Spirit speaks within or when that same Spirit compels us to speak without. Woolman devoted much of his record of 1769–1770 to reflection on a decision he explored, a nice case study in Christian discernment (Chapter 7). How do we know when we are sent by God? This is a question that consistently follows Woolman, and us today. The final chapter presents Woolman’s record of his 1772 trip to England. He contracted smallpox there, and a friend of his records the last weeks of his life which are here added to his Journal , documenting how Woolman stayed the course to the very end. Woolman’s Context You will better understand Woolman and his Journal if you know a few things about his context from the start. John Woolman lived in West New Jersey, very close to Pennsylvania, during the late colonial period of North America. It was a time and place of much transatlantic activity as products, slaves, settlers, and ideas made their way back and forth between England and the northeast American colonies. The Quaker presence was strong though